Oil saver for oil wells and packing screws therefor



Dec. 18, 1928. 1,695,332 J. w. HEETER OIL SAVER FOR OIL WELLS AND PACKING SCREWS THEREFOR Filed Aug. 15, 1924 Patented Dec. 18,

UNITED {STATES .-'1,s 9s,332 WPATYENT OFFICE.

(JOSEPH w. HE TER, or BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA.

OIL SAVER FOR oInwELLs' AND PACKING SCREWS THEREFOR.

Application fi1ed August 15, 1924. Serial No. 732,184."

The present invention relates .broadly to oil savers adapted to be operatively applied to a casing head during the drilling operation,and more particularly to an improved screw for compressing the packing into cooperative relation to the drilling line or cable. I It is customary in the art to which the present invention relates to provide oil savers comprising openable sections adapted to receive therebetween a body of packing mate'- rial which may be compressed to any desired extent into engagement with the line wire or 7 cable carrying the drilling tools. In order to permit easy application and removal of such savers, the screws utilized for compressing the packing have necessarily been constructed in sections adapted to be separated, placed in position around a cable, and then moved into assembledrelationship. In order to permit the cable to work freely throughthe central opening extending through such screws, the openings have necessarily been of considerably greater diameter than the maximum diameter of the line wire or cable being utilized. .This cable, therefore, has not been effective for properly aligning the sections of the screws, with the result that considerable difiiculty is frequently encountered in properly assembling the same and threading them into the base of the oil saver.

Attempts have been made to overcome this difliculty by applying dowel pins to the oper- I ating handles of onesection and correspond- *ing openings to the other section. Due to the difference in diameter before referred to, however, and the comparatively great weight of the screw sections, considerable difliculty has frequently been experienced in bringing the dowel pins into registration with, the openings. w

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an oil saver having a sectional screw of such construction that the sections thereof may more readily be brought into proper cooperative relationship.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it being understood that the'drawings do not define the limits of my invention, as changes in the construction and operation disclosed therein may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention-or scope of my broader claim.

k In the drawings:

' Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a portion of a casing head illustrating my improved oil saver in position thereon;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line II\II of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 3 is a detail view on an enlarged scale of a portion of one of the packing screw sections.

In carrying out the present invention, there may be provided an oil saver comprisin a base 2 adapted to be inserted into position within a cap shaped depression 3 formed on the casing head 4 of a standard casingf);

The base maybe held in cooperative relation to the casing head by set screws 6 extending through the head and engaging the inclined upper surface of the base;

p In order to permit the oil saver to be readily applied to a cable, it is desirable that it should be of sectional construction, permitting it to be slipped around the cable at any formed of rubber, having a longitudinally extending slit through one side thereof to permit the same to be slipped around the line,

wire or drilling cable C."

\ Atsuch times during thedrilling operation as there is no flow of oil, there is obviously no need for maintaining the packing 11 inv engagement with the'cable, as it not. only increases the friction which must be overcome in operating the cable but also results in undue wear of the packing. At other times, however, as for-example when oil is flowing,

it is desirable to have the packing engage the cable sufiicie'ntly tightly to prevent the escape of oil through the oil saver. This compression ,ofthe packing may be accomplished by' a packing screw comprisingseparable sec tions 13 and 14 adapted when assembled to be threaded into the split threaded opening 15 formed by the oil saver sections 7 and'8. Preferably a split or hinged washer 16 will be provided between the packing and the packing screw for transmitting the desired pressure from the screwto' the packing.

Savers of the character contemplated by the present invention are of considerablesize and, being constructed almost entirely of iron or steel, have a weight such that handling thereof presents a considerable problem. The packing screws themselves frequently Weigh a great many pounds, thereby making it essential in order to permit their ready assembly and threading into theoil saver to provide means insuring proper assembly and registration of the sections. For this purpose I provide one of the sections, herein illustrated as the section 14, with a circular boss 17 projecting from the inner face thereof, and provide the other section with a circular recess 18 adapted to receive this boss. Preferably this registering means for the sections will be located thereon intermediate the ends of the threaded sections whereby the center thereof substantially coincides with the cen ter of a triangle Joining the ends of theconstruction materially lessens the time required to effect the proper assembling of the sections with the screw threaded portions of the different sections occupying such relationship that the screw as a unit may be threaded into the oil saver into operative relation to the washer 16. It will be apparent that in the event of the commencement of oil flow before the application of the oil saver, this saving in time represents a material saving .in oil as well as labor.

The advantages of the present invention arise from the provision of an oil saver having a packing screw constructed with regis tering means adapted to facilitate proper assembly and registration of the sections.

I claim:

A clamping screw, comprising a pair of separable sections one of which is provided with a substantially. circular boss having an opening therethrough for the reception of a cable, the other section having a substantially JOSEPH WV. HEE'll llt.

. my hand. 

